Getting to know YOU Sunday

Go visit Keely at MannLand5 to play along!


1. Do you iron your sheets?
No way jose... I don't even iron my clothes.
Does anyone actually do that?!

2. Your dream car is....?
Mercedes R350
We live about 10 minutes from the Mercedes Plant and I think these are made there b/c I see a ton of them on the road.

OR....
Mercedes GL450
This one seats 7, so that means I could have a couple kids and all my dogs loaded in it pretty easily. Either would have to be silver please.

3. Do you have an innie or an outie belly button?
Innie

4. What meal do you look forward to the most..breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
I don't look forward to meals too much.
Honestly. If I did it would mean I was eating Pizza or Olive Garden or French Fries.... none of which I eat anymore.... Remember: I'm eating to live, not living to eat.

5. Favorite mascara?
Revlon Beyond Natural - love this stuff!
6. What would you say your decorating style is..traditional, modern, eclectic, country, french country, shabby chic, etc..?
I think modern. I love solid colors, straight lines, simple...

7. Have you ever been skinny dipping?
Yep!

8. I hate the smell of...?
Cooked broccoli is the worst (I do like to eat broccoli, but it smells AWFUL!)

The moment you missed...

If you read my 5QF and watched my reception video, I wanted to show you one minor detail my thoughtful videographer left out:

Yes... right after Ben chivalrously carried me to the limo through a sea of bubbles and family and friends cheering and applauding.... he smashed my head right into the door frame of the limo. Cute, huh?



So to make up for THAT face I'm making above... here are a few better ones:

5 Question Friday & a video

What. A. Day... or week...

1. Would you ever vacation alone?
Today... Yes. Today I really need a vacation alone.
Or just a vacation.
At a really clean hotel with a lazy river and a lot of sunshine.

2. Do you go the speed limit?

Mostly or at the most 79. I prefer to go slower than the speed limit to save on my mpg, but lately I'm always late getting places (not like me) and have to speed things up a bit.

3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?
My cousin Ivy started a blog last year and encouraged me to do the same.

4. Where do you shop for yourself?
New York & Co. mostly. They have some great sales on decent work clothes. I also really love Macy's... can't beat those sales.

5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?
I actually have no idea, because it was something we didn't want to dance to. So in our video, I surprised Ben and asked the videographer to change the song to what Ben had wished we danced to.

I've decided to share with you a very wonderful/personal day in my life. I've had a pretty exhausting week, so just being reminded of all God blessed me with is good. (I had to drag the little scroller to make it go...)

(Its not the best we've ever looked - it was about 90 degrees that day, but it was a very happy day). *My dad taught me every word to 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' when I was 2 years old, so it was only fitting that it was in this video. This was all done by a truly amazing videographer: Sweetheart Stories. Brian Pitts was great to work with and didn't miss a single detail. His video was our favorite keepsake from that day. He even did bloopers at the end!!! If I could figure out a way to upload them, I would. He's amazing!

Friday

Tomorrow is Friday and I could NOT be more thankful. I am done with today, in fact I really don't want to see Thursday again for awhile... Thursdays are so long. They are so trying. So much so that I came home and ate 4 more cookies to fill this hole that Thursday has made... I would have eaten 5 if I didn't pry myself from the table just in time. Seriously disappointed in myself for that one.

"Every party has a pooper that's why we invited you...."

Goodbye Thursday.

I ♥ my dentist

I have more fillings than I could ever count. I've even had 4 or 5 at one time and that went on for months. I was going to the dentist every 3 months at one time in my life. I have two crowns and three root-canals too. How does that work exactly? Well I have a filling IN a crown, which took another root canal. Fun huh? This sounds like I don't take care of my teeth right... wrong. In fact, people who don't floss, brush their teeth only when reminded, eat anything they want, and visit the dentist every 5 years with ZERO cavities....ZERO plaque... ZERO anything.... kill me!

I probably didn't take care of them exactly how I should have as a kid, but I did brush a lot and flossed often. I used fluoride rinse and fluoride paste and got sealant put on my teeth probably once a year. But I do have a family history of horrible teeth and I never ate meat. Well the lack of meat may not have as much to do with it as what I did eat instead. No meat meant more carbs and I later learned that carbs are worse for your teeth than chocolate! B/c they are so sticky.... so all those bagels I ate as a teenager... yep... I'm paying for it now... literally.

So I love my dentist. Really I do. Mostly because the first time he told me I had to have a root canal I went into straight hyperventilating hysteria and he handled it pretty well. He walked me next door to the endontist (that is awfully convenient isn't it?) and didn't run away like most men do at the sight of a blubbering girl. He is just the nicest man.

I even told him one time that the real reason I didn't take care of my teeth was so I could keep coming back and seeing him. Seriously, I thought this was going to come out hysterically funny.... but his face turned red and I think I became his favorite patient (It's either that or b/c my parents and I have paid for both his kids to go to college).

Well, I've had two 6-month checkups cavity free! Woo! Until last week.... Apparently one of my previous fillings fractured.... and I didn't know it, so... not my fault! He scheduled me for a filling. 7am, today. I show up, a veteran of dental work, without lipstick on (it doesn't usually look very pretty when they get done) and ready to go.

As he is drilling on my tooth I see him get a puzzled look on his face. He tells me to turn my head towards him and gets another tool that looks pretty painful... and keeps on working. He pauses for just half a second every once in awhile and I'm thinking to myself, "Oh... crap.... please don't send me next door, please don't send me next door." He continues on, gets out the little white filling stuff, then the hair dryer tool and I'm relieved, but still looking at his face (that is all of 1-foot from mine) not convinced.

So he finishes up and says, "Let's talk about this tooth.... (This is his way of eeeasing me into it and his hopes to avoid the hysterical mess I turned into last time)...." I said, "I knew that was coming.... I saw it on your face." He is a little taken aback and tells me, "Hmm.... I think that means you come here too often if you can read my facial expressions.... I don't have any other patients that know what I am thinking....but back to this tooth..... remember it was broken.... and it got waaaayyy down to the nerve (feel free to cringe).... so if it still hurts...." Me: "...I need a root canal." He paused to see what was going to happen which made me laugh and he sighed relief. I told him I was expecting it after his hesitation and that I'd call him....

Well.... my novocain has worn off and guess what..... my tooth hurts.

I am pretty much the best cake decorator EVER.

Seriously... be prepared to be jealous!

Ben has been BEGGING me to make something, anything sweet! I have told him numerous times that 1.) we are not eating sweet things and 2.) he can certainly make anything he'd like & I'll tell him how. Well neither of those two things went over too well after dinner tonight, so I gave in thinking: I need to practice on my 'cookie-press' again after last time's disaster and that no biggie, I'd make him cookies and I've been super strong for 3 + weeks with no sugar and would have no problem turning down these cookies.

So off I went. Cake cookie recipe... check!

Icing... check!

Half of it green for no reason other than green is more fun than white....check!

Fill up my 'cookie press' ready to decorate these cookies with my awesome talent.... check!

And....

*&@#$#@!.......

Oh... hey Ben.... so these aren't turning out quite like I expected.....

steady.....steady..........

notice the heart in the middle.... natural talent right there....

and THAT.... is a snail.....

*I also ate three.... maybe four.... cookies.... NOW I remember why I wasn't making sweet things. Shoot!

Update to 'The List'

When my 26.5 month birthday hit I freaked out a bit.... and still am. So I made this list thinking that if I made it, I'd actually do the things on it. So, lets have a bit of an update now that I am now at my 26.75 birthday and see where we (yes, WE) stand... this should be fun...


1. Go on a cruise! (I've never been and I've been saving and saving my credit card rewards so Ben and I can go on one). I'll accept a honeymoon vacation with Ben also. Umm.... not so much. I was planning one for the week of March 13, but then my cruise-partner1 dropped out (it makes myself feel better if I blame it on her), but really in the reality of it, see # 3 below. I am having the hardest time letting the money go. I know that I have specifically saved up for THIS cruise. I have cashed in my credit card points for this and saved enough... but I am getting paid for working only 2 days a week. There is no more money going into this savings account and only money coming out. So what happens if I need this money for something really important and I went and spent it on a cruise? So... I failed... no cruise by 27. Its not out of possibility though for the year, I'm recruiting a new cruise-partner2 and thinking maybe it will be a graduation-cruise. Do you want to come too???! How does the Mexico-area sound to you?

2. Go to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Any other semi-close very touristy place I've never been. Again... not yet.... Any suggestions?

3. Stop being such a Scrooge and spend some money on something fun (see above and below) :) Well I did buy a Christmas tree! That was fun :) And I let Ben buy some buggy-parts, (not so fun for me, but fun for him). I guess its baby steps... I think I'm still a Scrooge.

4. Blog at least once a week. Finally!!! I win!!! I have succeeded at this. In fact, I've blogged 37 times in January and its only the 27th! Maybe I should work on blogging about more personal stuff instead of just LOST and As Seen on Tv Crap. :)

5. Pass the APTTP (December) Thanks for the reminder... Scores are not available yet.

6. Pass the School Counseling Praxis Exam (January) Same.... scores not available.

7. Lose 10lbs... See here... I'm working on it! 5lbs to go.

8. Get Ben and I's first Christmas tree! (Yes we've been married for almost 3 Christmases and never had a Christmas Tree - see #3). Check!

9. Join a bible study. Its official - we have joined Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University bible study at our church. I am hoping this will get Ben and I on the same page with money (I am the gate-keeper and he is the one who asks why we can't afford something). I am really excited and encourage ALL of you to take this with me. Ours starts next Wednesday. Go here to locate a class in your neighborhood and then we can talk about it!

10. Start and Finish my wedding album (again... its been almost 3 years). I don't really see this happening. I did attempt to make one from my iPhoto, but then realized the quality I am looking for just wouldn't be there, so I'm back at square one and would have to conquer #3 and spend quite a bit for a nice one.

11. Paint a room in my house! - I've been wanting to paint my house for over 3 years and can't ever bring myself to pick a color and commit. Well Jeris picked out some wonderful colors and went to Benjamin Moore in Greystone to find them, so I'm either going to just copy hers :) Or go there and ask for help of my own. :) My entire house right now is:

Bunny Grey... seriously, the whole house.
Well..... I did get a paint sample. It is for this color:

Gull Wing Gray... hah! seriously... can you just envision my knack for colors here? In my defense, it is much darker and its sorta tan, more so than my bunny gray above. Bunny gray is almost a bluish/gray... so I'm working on getting more towards the tan/gray. :)

**I forgot to mention that my parents also own a paint store!!!! That might make this problem even worse...

12. Refinish this very old trunk... this is very much past my 'sand and paint' technique... not sure I know where to start.I handed this one off to my mother. I'm starting to feel like a failure on my list, I guess I forgot what was on my list besides losing 10lbs and blogging! My mother volunteered to refinish this for me since I could not scrape together a whole weekend to spend on it. However, I don't think she has done it yet either.

13. Exercise! I previously had this as go to the gym, but since the gym and my house are 35+ minutes away, its not likely that I get there any more often, so I must improvise!
Went on my first exercise walk of 2010 this week. It was 70 degrees outside so things are looking up for this goal.

14. (Your suggestion goes here).
I have done several things here that were firsts: Many of them happened while in Dothan for the Peanut Festival. I can't think of too many other things. I need to do a better job of keeping track.

15. Go to the peanut festival (I was starting to get overwhelmed and this one is already set in stone). :) Check, this was in November.

16. Landscape! This really involves splitting all my bulbs in my flower beds... its time.
It has been SO cold! I like this goal though, I will do this one.

17. Have a dinner party (or two).
I had one! Now working on #2.

18. Do something nice with our 'office/guest room'.
Does cleaning it count? Well... I haven't really done that either, but I DID buy printer paper!

19. Go rock crawling with Ben again... I really do love to go but never have the time to.
This one got Ben and I into quite a discussion last night. I told him this was on my list and his exact response was, "Well I need a shifter to be able to ride and that costs about $180." So basically it was me holding things up because of my iron fists on our finances. So I'm not holding my breath on this one, but I HOPE its done soon....

Here's the thing about buggies/rock-crawlers.... the vehicle is literally never finished. Ever. If it is, its not good enough, it could be stronger, bigger, better. If it is, you finally go crawling and you break a drive shaft or slice your tire and then you are back to not being finished. I do love this hobby and think its great that Ben has a hobby (or 472 hobbies), but just wanted to let you in on the reality of it all.

20. Read some books! I have SO many books on my shelf unopened... Many of them are counseling-related books, but still I need to read something other than textbooks!
I read The Noticer - GREAT book, I think everyone should read it.
I'm in the process of reading, Reviving Ophelia and Understanding Poverty. I also am looking forward to reading The 5 Love Languages of Children (I think all the 'Love Language' are probably pretty beneficial though.) Yes most of those are to benefit counseling.

21. Find a job! This is a very bitter-sweet one because I have a wonderful job, but will soon be graduating and looking for a counseling position. This would be amazing if I knew where it would be by my birthday.
Nope... but I did find an internship! Woot!

22. Go to Tallahassee.
I forgot this was on the list! I went last weekend and will probably go again before my birthday in April.

23. Learn to drive the Ford F250.
....Cringe.... Nope.... I really really really want to though.

24. Apply for a scholarship.
Yes! I applied for one so far. It was a diversity scholarship (I know, what was I thinking) it was to encourage males and people of color to enter into the counseling field. I was told that I'd hear back by mid-January if I got it. Mid-January has come and gone...**Just got an email... although I am an excellent candidate and will make a marvelous counselor, I was not selected for this scholarship.... I'll just go ahead and put all blame on the fact that I am neither male or racially diverse... makes myself feel better anyways.

25. Pass the NCE. (I know, I took this already I know, but I don't know if I've passed or not, so its definitely something fun to add to my list and if I don't pass, then I will before I turn 27!)
Woohoo! Yet another one down... what is that, 4 out of 27?!

26. Thank God every single day for the SO many blessings he's given me.
Hah, I'm a cheater...
I'm working on this one too because I am so VERY thankful.

27. Take off work on my birthday and celebrate because it will be my 27th birthday on the 27th!!!!

As seen on tv.

I stayed up late enough to start seeing the infomercials on TV the other night. I am a SUCKER for As Seen On TV products... I will watch a whole show of infomercials before snapping back to reality....

Currently I want these:

Slap Chop (mainly because of the song... and yes, this comes on TV... Ben does NOT believe me, but I promise it does).

Perfect Brownie Pan Set.... seriously every time I make brownies they look like CR-RAP... this is such a great idea!

Bumpits!! (Although the name sounds like a disease of the armpits...)
I love some volume...


My birthday is in 3 months. I'll gladly take any of the three. ;) Thanks.

It rained a little this weekend.

Meet Bristol

Remember Bristol???

He still needs a home. Do you want to love him forever??? He would be so thankful if you would :)

Here is his petfinder link.

LOST

The commercials have started.... I don't know if I can make it another week!



Tuesday, February 2nd on ABC. If you aren't watching LOST yet, I suggest you call in sick to work and spend the next 8 days on ABC.com watching it from season 1. You'll be hooked. I am SO excited LOST will be back!

Summer weather... Here I come!

I have an official weekend planned at the beach in March!!!! Talk about motivation. This is my new favorite bathing suit. I am ALLL for the skirts. I cannot wait for the warm weather!!

No this surprisingly is not me.... I know, the resemblance is uncanny!

Getting to know YOU Sunday

Keely over in MannLand5 hosts a fun blog carnival on Sundays. I would love LOVE it if you would play along OR just leave your answers in my comment section. That would be fun too.

1. Waffles, pancakes or french toast?
French toast ANY day. It is my 100% favorite breakfast.

2. Dream home..What would it look like?
Can I pick Keely's? Because wow.
My dream home would have a huge porch, 1-car garage on the main level so I wouldn't have to tote the groceries from a mile away and a separate, hear me? SEPARATE shop (garage) to house the buggy and where Ben can set off the fire alarm as much as he wants and I won't hear it.

3. Favorite sport to watch during the Winter Olympics?
Skiing. When they go SUPER fast.

4. The first word that comes to mind when describing yourself?
Blond.

5. Dresses, pants (jeans, leggings, etc.) or skirts?
Skirts a great pair of flip flops, every day.

6. What is your favorite time of day?
10 am. At the Beach :)

7. Beach or Mountains..which do you prefer?
Beach!!

8.Will you watch the Super Bowl?
Nope, never. I am not a pro-football kinda girl.

Mr. Sandman

Yesterday's 5QF asked if you had any recurring dreams. I immediately thought about a nightmare I've had over and over since I was a child, but then today I had another recurring dream that I completely forgot about:

I'm back waiting tables and there are SO many tables that I can't get to, its like something always keeps getting in my way and I'm SUPER stressed the entire time. I'm trying and trying to get to these people and take their order, I see their scowls and hear my boss yelling, but I just can't get there... This is an all-night event too, I usually wake up VERY stressed out and exhausted, but incredibly thankful I am no longer waiting tables.

Another one that often enters my peaceful night of sleep (I wouldn't actually call my sleep ever 'peaceful', but more on that in a minute) is where I am standing on something VERY small about 1000 feet in the air. It is usually wobbling and I'm holding on for my dear life. Talk about stressful... It is horrifying and has given me a fear of heights that didn't used to exist.

So about the peaceful sleep. It doesn't quite exist. We sort of have a running joke around my house because I come home with new pillows all the time hoping that the new one will be 'the one'. But, I've still yet to find it. I am a toss & turner. I often wish that my arms would detach for sleeping purposes because I wake up tingling with pins and needles from my arms falling asleep (rather ironic). Or if I'm not tossing and turning, I'm making my 'sleep wrinkle' worse. What is a sleep wrinkle you ask? Its a line that I have begun to have on my face. Go look in the mirror and squish your cheek towards your nose... you see that line that forms next to your nose???? I'm getting a permanent one because of the way I sleep!!!!! How terrible is that?! So to add to my constant uncomfortableness I now have anxiety all night that I am sleeping the wrong way and making my sleep wrinkle worse....

I read somewhere a girl's must have list. It said, a great mattress, bedding, pillows, etc. So this is my new mission. I'm almost to the point where I will pay a few thousand dollars for the secret trick to sleeping. I have an amazing mattress (Sealey True Form), but I need a pillow and bedding to add to it.... and possibly some training on how to sleep successfully!

Any suggestions?
Are you a stomach, back or side-sleeper? (If you sleep on your side, what on earth do you do with your arms?!)
What kind of pillows or bedding do you have? (I'm in love with these right now.)

Goodnight ;)

Useless Saturday Information

I love this commercial....I have no idea why... I don't even watch that show very often.


I actually had no idea it was a real song...

Ahem...

So I won an award! Does that mean I'm an official blogger???!? THANKS HEATHER!!! As for an acceptance speech (That is appropriate, right?) I want to thank all my stalkers friends, who read this and don't ever leave a comment or tell me you read it.... you know who you are. I would award you with this award if you would make a blog. I proommisse.... Anyways, I just think its fun that anyone reads this who doesn't have to..... my husband thinks its strange.

Okay, here are the rules for the award:

1. Accept the award and post it on your blog....be sure and thank the person you receive this award from..... Check, see above.

2. Pass the award on to bloggers that you have discovered and think are wonderful..... I have discovered SO many blogs that I think are wonderful. In fact only some of them are on my sidebar, I always forget to update that thing, so its lacking a good many. A couple of my favorite are: S.I.F and And Triplets Make Six. Both are just incredible blogs that I think everyone should read. They are both amazing writers and VERY funny!

PS - I really hate that I have to pick people, I feel like the team captain in PE probably felt...I was never good enough to BE team captain.... I was the kid who didn't get picked because no one wanted a girl who picked dandelions and did cartwheels in the outfield on their team. But anyways, go read their blogs! You can thank me later. :)

3. Be sure to let them know you tagged them........ okay.

So now all (2 or 3) of you bloggless readers out there, I need you to start commenting so I will stop telling you the same stories not realizing you already know all the useless information about my life. Thanks!

5QF!!!!!

Its my favorite day, Friday!! Click the picture above to link up and play along with Mama M. If you don't have a blog I'd LOVE it if you left YOUR answers in my comment section. :) I KNOW there are some of you who don't have a blog... C'mon...

1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?
better?..... hmm.... probably growing old without money, who wants to die young???

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?
Ben. He has decided there are 'girl duties' so I decided there are 'boy duties' also and garbage falls in that category. Vacuuming is apparently a 'girl duty'.

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?
Yes... only one very scary weird one where I'm in a stadium filled with faceless people. They are all wearing yellow shirts. Ick.

4. Can you play a musical instrument? After taking piano lessons for several years, playing the flute in elementary school, the recorder in 3rd grade and then taking on the drums when my music teacher had no one else to play them.... nope.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell? Dogs that needed homes. hah! or Vera Bradley. haha! Maybe flowers... I really like flower/plant shops.

Southern Vocabulary

I heard a few new phrases at school today:

"I almost punched her in the face, ya'know I'm 'trailer'!!"
"My cousin was married, but her 'wasband' was a slacker."
"I was on 'rent-a-meal' while I was pregnant."

These reminded me of the funny words I have learned while living in the south. Keep in mind I've lived here now for almost 15 years so I'm definitely a southerner and not much of a Yankee anymore, but I'm still shocked when things come out of my mouth like, "He done come undone!" Just kidding... I don't say stuff like that.... maybe once... a few nights ago.... when I confused came and come and had and done... or maybe not....

When I moved to Alabama from New Jersey it took A LOT of getting used to. I had to lose my northern accent very quickly (teenagers can be mean, but middle school teachers can be even meaner), no more 'Yous guys' or 'hot dawg'... and I learned I was supposed to add multiple syllables into small words like....'Wa-ail' instead of 'Well'.... I have apparently perfected this without much thought though.

I also had to learn completely new words too. I still have never said 'fixin to' and don't really see it in my near future, but 'ya'll' manages to sneak in there somehow...

So here are a few more that were new to me after my move that I find to be a TON of fun:

Tump - Who tumped over the trashcan? (This one is my favorite... seriously, use it every day and your life will be better, I promise.)
Mash - Did you mash the button?
Tote - Tote that suitcase upstairs. Or even better: Can you tote your little brother to school today?
Buggy - Put the groceries in the buggy please.

Are there any more I'm missing? Are these words unique to the south still? What are some words that you found in your neck of the woods that we probably don't have in Ala-freakin-bama? (Does anyone actually like this song?).

New Semester = Less Blogging

How devastating that I may now be too busy to blog 400 times a day. I had been getting pretty good about writing several at once and publishing them throughout the week, but now I'm all caught up and not blogging everyday. Shoot...

Since I'm pretty much brain dead, I'll just give you an update of my life. :) Fun, huh?

Hah!

I'm working on week #3 of the 'diet'. This past weekend in Tallahassee I managed to turn down cake, TWICE! Am I strong or what?! I also only had appetizers with celery and not chips... good move. But today I ate pita chips... a lot of them... while deciding what non-carb/non-sugar meal to cook for dinner. They were screaming at me from the top shelf of the kitchen. Screaming I tell you! Anyways, skin still the same, maybe worse, or maybe just the same. I have managed to lose 5lbs while on this new lifestyle kick. And before you go thinking I've done something amazing, it does include the 4lbs I lost once and regained once, so I'm now 5lbs away from #7 on my list. (I should probably update this list since I'm creeping horrifyingly close to my end goal date of April 27th.)

For class this semester I have to turn in 5 tapes of me counseling, but I haven't gotten any clients yet. I am a little nervous about getting these clients since last semester my supervisor gave me every kid that walked through the door, this semester is a little different and individual therapy isn't as on top of the list since the counselor has SO many other duties. But, I'm only on week 2 at school, so I probably need to make it through 1 month before I start to worry.

I'll leave with you a few questions I would like answered:
1. Do you watch the biggest loser? (The reason I ask is because I'm dying to know what the red team girl does next week since she threw the weigh-in for the past two weeks)!
2. How about NCIS? Does it amaze anyone else that Agent Gibbs is not only an NCIS Lead agent, but also a hostage negotiator, a bomb-undoer (see reference above to brain-dead), a detective, an evidence locator, and possibly even superman???
3. Why does the bag of steamed broccoli come with 50% stumps? Does anyone actually like broccoli stumps?!
4. Why did the State of Alabama send me a 1099 today for my refund I received last year? Didn't I already pay taxes on this money?!

Road Trip Interuptions

Ben and I left right after I finished school Friday and headed on our way to Florida. We made it to the ramp of the second interstate on our way, fervently trying to avoid traffic when a car a couple vehicles ahead rear-ended someone pretty badly.

Well the two cars in front of us swerved around and continued on their merry way, Ben attempted to do the same, but the guy who caused the accident was throwing things from his vehicle and climbing out of the passenger side of his vehicle as we slowed by. I made Ben roll the window down (big mistake) and ask if he was okay. He mumbled something and I realized I went to high school with him! I called his name but then saw that he was probably not with it 100% and realized why he was throwing things from his car, I'm glad he didn't hear me say his name. Hmm....

So Ben pulls over and the man that got rear-ended is FURIOUS. Ben jumps out and tries to calm things down as I called 911. While I was calling I notice the accident-causer throwing things into the woods, so I made a mental note of exactly where he was standing and what it looked like he was doing.

The police finally show up and Ben takes them down to the woods to find the 'tossed items' (I really had no idea what they were at the time) and poor detective Ben is trudging through waist high brush with the cop, I realize they weren't in the right spot that I made a mental note of, so me and my cowboy boots go down there too and help with the cause.

At this the cop says to us, just let me know if you find anything but don't touch it! and leaves us in the brush! Um.... what?! Maybe we were so stealth that he didn't realize Ben and I did not go to evidence-locating school. So I told Ben I'm getting the heck out of here and headed back to the car.

The cop meets me at the car and asks for my ID since I was a 'witness'. I explained to him that he should probably get my husband's instead but he said he wanted mine since I 'saw him throw crap in the woods' and then I debated on telling him how I interned a whole lot and worked a few jobs and lived pretty far away and that I went to high school with the 'alleged drug abuser/car accident causer' and really didn't want him to show up at my house and threaten my life causing me to move to Arizona and go into witness protection.... but I didn't think he'd care so the cop took my license.... FAAABULOUS....

Anyways, an hour later we finally get on our way to move a few inches into the now 5 o'clock traffic that has been building up while we were investigating... Ben tells me that it was needles the guy threw out of his car and he had stood over one until the cops got there so the guy couldn't pick it up and throw it in the woods.... GREAT! We were searching for needles?! I assumed I was searching for a half-empty bag of pot or something.... ICK!!!

In the end, Ben and I are taddle-tales, accident causer went to jail, and old guy left with a very bruised and beaten brand-new truck.

Tallahassee - Lane's Shower

Tallahassee Weekend:
My cousin Lane is getting married and we had her bridal shower & engagement party this weekend at the family hub - Tallahassee. Nearly all the family came in town for it and Lane's fiance's family came in town too, from Iowa! It is always fun to get together with this side of the family... my grandparents had 8 children, 4 boys/4 girls & their spouses, between them there are 15 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, and 3 (almost 4) grand children's spouses.... so it makes for quite a large family get-together.

The Shower.

The Beautiful Bride.

The 'onion-cutting' glasses.
Gramma & her girls.
The grand-daughters (minus the 2 youngest ones).
I love these girls.
My sweet, sweet nephew
Happy Ivy ;)

My parents & their forever-favorite grandchild.

The spouses & cousin John hiding from the rest of the family.
Ben didn't leave this corner all night... notice him attempting to avoid this picture.

We left this morning in 65 degree weather and stepped out of the car in Alabama to 40 degree weather.... Winter, you can leave now... thanks.

Getting to know YOU Sunday!

I love Getting to Know YOU Sunday by Keely over at MannLand5. Link in and play along. If you don't have a blog I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you left your answers in my comments! :)

1. Hair color..Au naturale..or not?
100% Au naturale. I actually like my hair a lot in the summer, it gets quite blond, but here in the winter I'm looking a little dingy.

2. If somebody has food in their teeth or lipstick on their teeth do you tell them?
Yes, always and I'd appreciate it if others would do the same :)

3. Would you rather have a million dollars or your vision of the perfect body?
1 million dollars..... then I could open my own practice..... be on my own schedule... work out at all the gym classes I want without having to worry about affording them.... I could shop at WholeFoods... buy great food to eat for lunch and dinner and stop worrying about cutting coupons.... which would then give me my perfect body. :)

4. Favorite magazine?
Probably Shape. I get a ton of magazines in the mail for some reason, but never have time to read any of them but Shape.

5. Bra style..lacey or plain?
Plain

6. If you walked into Victoria's Secret..would you most likely come out with something sexy or comfy?
I would most likely come out with nothing. Nothing at VS EVER fits... ever. okay, so since that is the case maybe I'd come out w/ PJs.

7. Do you fake and bake?
I'm going to assume that means baking in the tanning bed??? If so, then no... if you know me I burn from just sitting under too many flourescent lights... so tanning beds would give me skin cancer in about 12.2 seconds.... tan in a bottle is the only way I get bronzed skin.

8. What's your favorite body part on a man?
Umm..... probably shoulders or back. (No hairy backs please!)

5 Question Saturday

I love love LOVE 5 Question Friday and since I was interning/driving all day yesterday I missed it, so lets do 5 Question Saturday!!! Go visit Mama M. and play along, its not too late :)

1. Worst trouble you ever got into as a teenager?
Hmm... I truly cannot think of ever getting in trouble. I didn't do too many terrible things, but my parents also weren't very strict (looking back on it) so I never really got in trouble. There were a few times they blatantly caught me being an idiot.... they just never really did anything. Yeah... boring.

2. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Can I be a mid-day person? Actually I'm more of an any-time-other-than-morning-person. I seriously am the grumpiest person alive in the mornings. I like things to be quiet and calm which worked really well when my husband and I woke up on different schedules b/c he was leaving about the time I woke up, but now we get up at the same time, fight for the 1st shower and he thinks I'm a witch.

3. Are you a one-handed or a two-handed Texter?
Two-handed now that I have a QRTY keyboard.

4. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is).
Conservative, but honestly, I'm SO sick of politics... I think everyone is corrupt.

5. Are you a pet person?
:) If you don't know me yet, you should just search 'dogs' on my blog. Yes, I'm a 100% pet person. I love all animals, especially dogs and want to save them all.

School - A confession

Remember the other day when I was tired of school?

Well, I had my first class of the semester tonight and I do for a fact, love school. I love class at least. I love learning new things and new people's perspectives. I love the camaraderie of classmates all learning such a specific skill set and going through the same things at relatively the same time. Even though we all are bringing in unique circumstances, we all are experiencing the same professors, exams, internship requirements, not-being-able-to-work-full-time-for-money requirements, etc. I really really enjoy this.

What is tiring is that class meets 5:30-8pm after I've already worked 8-5pm, or sometimes like Thursday, it meets 6:30-8pm after I worked from 8-5 and I can't go home between 5-6:30 because I live 45 minutes away from school. That part is hard. It is also expensive. I go to a state university which is fairly cheap compared to some (most) and it is $800+ per class per semester. So $1600... to intern for free...

But still with all those things, and all the work, I still enjoy it and will miss the class, camaraderie and learning, when I leave there in August.

The other day while making Ben participate in my monthly planning meeting (I'm a planner... I plan WAY in advance... you should see my calendar... and budget!) I was telling him all the possible ways I could complete my licensure after graduation and one of the ways involved going back to school (or never really leaving). This turned him into crazy-Ben, where he gets kinda defensive and freaks a little and doesn't make much sense except to say, "No you can't do that." Hah! I totally get his thinking, "Why on earth would I want to go back/keep going?! Why would I not relish (?) in my free afternoons and use my precious $1600 each semester to spend on Buggy-related things?!" But tonight I realized why... I really do secretly love school.

Wordless Wednesday - Does anyone else think this is bizarre?

La cucaracha

The plants at work today were all droopy and sad and appeared as if no one wished them a Merry Christmas or maybe even a Happy Thanksgiving... so I went into the kitchen and got the large pitcher we usually use for the coffee maker and filled it completely up. I then poured this large container of water in the small gardenia plant, which then overflowed onto the filing cabinets everywhere… dern.

So I ran into my boss' office and told him and his brother that I made a disaster and needed them to come move the filing cabinet, ASAP!

So I ran back into the kitchen and started pulling out paper towels, you know when you grab the first one and pull real hard and then they just start spinning outwards....? Well, as I panickly did this, a gigantic cockroach crawled OUT of the cardboard paper towel spindle and UP my arm!!!! UP MY ARM!!!!!!

I went into a straight out writhing-panic-attack mode which may or may not have included shrieking, hysteria, spinning and jumping and a lot of tears…probably some hyperventilating as well.This abrupt chaos then scared the crap out of my boss and co-worker who didn't even SEE the cockroach!

I called my husband later after I composed myself somewhat and told him, 'The worst thing that has ever happened to me, JUST happened!!!!!!" I proceeded to tell him about the 2 foot cockroach and how it climbed all over me and may have even gotten in my hair (I don't exaggerate I promise)!!!! As I finished and waited for his sympathy he took a breath and said, 'Wow, I really thought you were going to say you pooped in your pants."

Blog Promotion Tuesday

I HIGHLY recommend this blog today: Prier Family - Freedom
Check it out, its a great post about God and finances.

Movie Review: It's Complicated

I don't go to the movies often so these won't be too frequent, but my mother and I went to see this movie yesterday. The commercials made it seem like it was pretty funny. I'd give it 2 out of 4 stars. It was rather slow and the best parts in the movie were when you saw this guy:


John Krasinsky, he is just HILARIOUS! The movie didn't show him enough, but I guess that is fair since he really wasn't a main character in the story line. Also, Alec Baldwin's voice got VERY old after about 20 minutes. Its just so raspy... I wanted him to clear his throat and talk a little clearer, but it never happened. Also, Steve Martin is not a main character either , but was rather boring in the movie, which I was a little disappointed with, but again, I think that was the intention. It has a decent ending, in case you want to go see it. All in all, I'll probably forget that I saw this movie one day and wouldn't go see it again, but it made for a decent Sunday afternoon.

If you have seen it, I'd love to know what you thought.

Day 1 - Internship

Today went well thanks to a TON of prayers. I have a great counselor as my supervisor and the school is run very smoothly. I still haven't met for class due to our 'winter storm' we had last Thursday, so I don't even know what is expected of me as a 2nd semester intern yet. I've been told it is not as extensive as last semester (weekly tapes, weekly supervision sessions along with weekly class, etc.). So we'll see.

The school is 11 miles from my house!!! All I can say is amazing. I've been driving 35+ miles one way to work for a few years, so 11 miles is wonderful!!!

Also, this semester is elementary kids and oh my goodness... they are so small! Last semester was middle school and some of the kindergartners look like they need to go back to preschool.... itty... bitty.

I'm excited though and even more excited for this to be under my belt and have a real paid job one day :)

Happy Monday!

Interesting night

If you don't know already I love all things mammal. Seriously, cats, dogs, birds, squirells, giraffes, you name it, I want to love it.

So anyways, there was this boxer that Ben said we'd care for after a neighbor found him a few months ago. You can read about that post here. I posted signs all over our neighborhood and found his family! Woo! Happy ending right? So you thought...



Tonight while wearing a robe, the door bell rang. (Always good timing). I warned Ben that if it was a solicitor and he said, 'Let me get my wife' I'd punch him. He answered the door. It was one of the owners of the dog. She was HYS-TER-ICAL. She said her boyfriend had hit her, kicked her out, and told her if the dog didn't leave with her, he'd untie it and let him go. She didn't know what else to do with the dog, she had no job, no where to live, nothing. At this point I am listening from around the corner and Ben is stuttering a little, but probably thinking, 'Uh.... hmm....this is strange'. So I poked my head out and said, 'Sure, we'll take him.'

I opened the garage and she brought in his bed with tears flowing down her face, she hugged him 10 times and told me how sorry she was for burdening us. I assured her she wasn't and asked if she had anywhere else to go. She said she was going to a friends (I don't even think she had a car) and I gave her my telephone number in case she needed anything and she left... still hysterical.

So wow... what a way to put life into perspective.

Getting to know YOU Sunday

Keely is hosting her usual Sunday Blog carnival over at MannLand5! Click her pic and play along. :)

1. If you were stranded on a desert island and could pick one person to be stranded with you..Who would you pick? Family members not included.
Bear Grylls (what kind of name is that?!) from man vs. wild. Maybe if I cried hard enough he'd go find me some food and build me a shelter.
Oooor.... Jack from LOST. Or Charlie.... Sawyer.... Locke.... Probably Locke. I mean he and the deserted island are like one. Okay.... if they can be a fake person I choose Locke.

2. Do you read celebrity gossip?
Not much. I am usually too busy reading blogs.

3. Favorite show you're watching this season?
Seriously... I don't like when I have to narrow it down to one. Lost starts in a few weeks, so I guess I'm not technically watching it yet.... FlashForward is on hiatus through March.... I guess Glee.... of course :)

4. How tall are you?
5'6

5. What was the last book you read?
The Noticer. Its a great short read. Go buy it now.

6. Flats or heels?
Boots or flipflops.... so I guess both?

7. If you had to choose one natural disaster to go through, what would you choose..Earthquake, Tornado, or Hurricane?
Tornado... because I live in 'tornando alley' and you have a good chance they'll miss you since they aren't quite as large as a hurricane.

8. Thong, panties, or (gasp) granny panties?
Boy shorts.